Network connection method, terminal device, and network device

ABSTRACT

Disclosed in the present application is a network connection method, a terminal device, and a network device, the method comprising: when a request for tracking area updating from a terminal device to a network device fails, the terminal device sends a cell re-registration request message to the network device, said terminal device supporting a dual connection mode and establishing a connection with the network device by means of a first network, and said cell re-registration request message being used for the network device to learn the ability of the terminal device to connect to a second network; and the terminal device receives a network connection mode configured by the network device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2020/089226, filed on May 8, 2020, the entire disclosure of whichis incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.This application is based on Chinese patent applications with anapplication number 201910870158.7, filed on Sep. 16, 2019, and anapplication number 201910405971.7, filed on May 16, 2019, and claims thepriority of the Chinese patent applications. The entire content of thepatent applications is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF DISCLOSURE 1. Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communicationtechnology, and specifically to a network connection method, anelectronic device, and a storage medium.

2. Description of the Related Art

The New Radio (NR) system supports the standalone (SA) architecture andthe non-standalone (NSA) architecture. A typical NSA architecture is adual connection (DC) architecture.

In the dual connection architecture, a terminal device can work in adual connection mode. In the dual connection mode, the terminalestablishes a connection with two network devices in the NSAarchitecture. For example, the terminal device establishes connectionswith a network device in a long term evolution (LTE) system and anetwork device in the NR system. At this time, there is a problem thatthe terminal device consumes a lot of power and has short battery life.

SUMMARY

The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a network connectionmethod, an electronic device, and a storage medium, which can save powerof the terminal device and extend endurance time of the terminal device.

The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure areimplemented as follows:

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides anetwork connection method, which includes: sending, by the terminaldevice, a cell re-registration request message to the network device ina case that a request for updating a tracking area from a terminaldevice to a network device fails; wherein the terminal device supports adual connection mode and establishes a connection with the networkdevice through a first network, and the cell re-registration requestmessage is used to cause the network device to know a capability of theterminal device to connect to a second network;

receiving, by the terminal device, a network connection mode configuredby the network device.

In the above solution, the case that the request for updating thetracking area from the terminal device to the network device fails,includes: sending, by the terminal device, a tracking area updaterequest message to the network device, in an idle state; wherein theterminal device does not receive a terminal device capability enquiryrequest message sent by the network device, within a predeterminedduration.

In the above solution, the cell re-registration request messageincludes: the terminal device supporting connecting to the secondnetwork, or the terminal device not supporting connecting to the secondnetwork.

In the above solution, in a case that the cell re-registration requestmessage includes the terminal device not supporting connecting to thesecond network, the receiving, by the terminal device, the networkconnection mode configured by the network device, including: receiving,by the terminal device, a single connection mode configured by thenetwork device; wherein the terminal device is only capable of accessingthe first network, in the single connection mode.

In the above solution, in a case that the cell re-registration requestmessage includes the terminal device supporting connecting to the secondnetwork, the receiving, by the terminal device, the network connectionmode configured by the network device, including:

Receiving, by the terminal device, the dual second network connectionmode configured by the network device; wherein the terminal device iscapable of accessing the first network and the second networksimultaneously, in the dual connection mode.

In the above solution, the method further includes: sending, by theterminal device, first information to the network device, wherein thefirst information is used to indicate that the terminal device supportsconnecting to the second network.

In the above solution, the first network is an LTE network, and thesecond network is an NR network.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides anetwork connection method, which includes:

Receiving, by a network device, a tracking area update request messagesent by a terminal device, wherein the network device establishes aconnection with the terminal device through a first network;

ignoring, by the network device, the tracking area update requestmessage.

In the above solution, the ignoring, by the network device, the trackingarea update request, includes: not sending, by the network device, aterminal device capability enquiry request message to the terminaldevice, within a predetermined duration after the tracking area updaterequest message is received by the network device.

In the above solution, the method further includes: receiving, by thenetwork device, a cell re-registration request message sent by theterminal device, wherein the cell re-registration request message isused to cause the network device to know a capability of the terminaldevice to connect to a second network.

In the above solution, the method further includes: configuring anetwork connection mode for the terminal device based on the cellre-registration request message by the network device.

In the above solution, the configuring the network connection mode forthe terminal device based on the cell re-registration request message bythe network device includes:

Configuring a single connection mode for the terminal device by thenetwork device in a case that the cell re-registration request messageincludes the terminal device not supporting a connection to the secondnetwork; wherein the terminal device is only capable of accessing thefirst network, in the single connection mode.

In the above solution, the configuring the network connection mode forthe terminal device based on the cell re-registration request message bythe network device includes:

Configuring the dual connection mode for the terminal device by thenetwork device in a case that the cell re-registration request messageincludes the terminal device supporting a connection to the secondnetwork; wherein the terminal device is capable of accessing the firstnetwork and the second network simultaneously, in the dual connectionmode.

In the above solution, the method further includes: receiving, by thenetwork device, first information sent by the terminal device, whereinthe first information is used to indicate that the terminal devicesupports the connection to the second network.

In the above solution, the first network is an LTE network, and thesecond network is an NR network.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure also providesa terminal device, which includes:

A first sending unit configured to send a cell re-registration requestmessage to a network device in a case that a request for updating atracking area from a terminal device to a network device fails; whereinthe terminal device supports a dual connection mode and establishes aconnection with the network device through a first network, and the cellre-registration request message is configured to cause the networkdevice to know a capability of the terminal device to connect to asecond network;

A first receiving unit configured to receive a network connection modeconfigured by the network device.

In the above solution, the first sending unit is configured to send atracking area update request message to the network device when theterminal device is in an idle state;

The first receiving unit does not receive a terminal device capabilityenquiry request message sent by the network device, within apredetermined duration.

In the above solution, the cell re-registration request messageincludes: the terminal device supporting connecting to the secondnetwork, or the terminal device not supporting connecting to the secondnetwork.

In the above solution, the first receiving unit is configured to receivea single connection mode configured by the network device in a case thatthe cell re-registration request message includes the terminal devicenot supporting connecting to the second network; wherein the terminaldevice is only capable of accessing the first network, in the singleconnection mode.

In the above solution, the first receiving unit is configured to receivethe dual connection mode configured by the network device in a case thatthe cell re-registration request message includes the terminal devicesupporting connecting to the second network;

The terminal device is capable of accessing the first network and thesecond network simultaneously, in the dual connection mode.

In the above solution, the first sending unit is further configured tosend first information to the network device, wherein the firstinformation is used to indicate the terminal device supportingconnecting to the second network.

In the above solution, the first network is an LTE network, and thesecond network is an NR network.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application alsoprovides a network device, which includes:

A second receiving unit configured to receive a tracking area updaterequest message sent by a terminal device, wherein the network deviceestablishes a connection with the terminal device through a firstnetwork;

A processing unit configured to ignore the tracking area update requestmessage.

In the above solution, the processing unit is configured to not send aterminal device capability enquiry request message to the terminaldevice within a predetermined duration after the tracking area updaterequest message is received by the second receiving unit.

In the above solution, the second receiving unit is further configuredto receive a cell re-registration request message sent by the terminaldevice, wherein the cell re-registration request message is used tocause the network device to know a capability of the terminal device toconnect to a second network.

In the above solution, the processing unit is further configured toconfigure a network connection mode for the terminal device based on thecell re-registration request message.

In the above solution, the processing unit is configured to configure asingle connection mode for the terminal device in a case that the cellre-registration request message includes the terminal device notsupporting connecting to the second network; wherein the terminal deviceis only capable of accessing the first network, in the single connectionmode.

In the above solution, the processing unit is configured to configurethe dual connection mode for the terminal device in a case that the cellre-registration request message includes the terminal device supportingconnecting to the second network; wherein the terminal device is capableof accessing the first network and the second network simultaneously, inthe dual connection mode.

In the above solution, the second receiving unit is further configuredto receive first information sent by the terminal device, wherein thefirst information is configured to indicate that the terminal devicesupports connecting to the second network.

In the above solution, the first network is an LTE network, and thesecond network is an NR network.

The embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a storage mediumstoring an executable program, when executed by a processor, toimplement the network connection method executed by the terminal devicementioned above.

The embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a storage mediumstoring an executable program, when executed by a processor, toimplement the network connection method executed by the terminal devicementioned above.

In the network connection method, the electronic device, and the storagemedium provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure, in a casethat a request for updating a tracking area from a terminal device to anetwork device fails, the terminal device sends the cell re-registrationrequest message to the network device; the cell re-registration requestmessage is used to cause the network device to know a capability of theterminal device to connect to the second network; the terminal devicereceives the network connection mode configured by the network device,and the terminal device and the network device establish the connectionthrough a first network. In this way, the terminal device can inform thenetwork device the ability of the terminal device to connect to thesecond network by the cell re-registration request message, so that thenetwork device can configure the network connection mode for theterminal device according to the ability of the terminal device toconnect to the second network; in turn, the power consumption of theterminal device is saved, and the endurance time of the terminal deviceis prolonged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a software/hardware structure of anelectronic device of an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a network connectionmethod provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an optional process of a networkconnection method, applied to a terminal device, provided by anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication moduleof a terminal device in a dual connection mode of an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a tracking area update process of anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a terminal device, enabling intelligent5G, in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a composition structure of a terminaldevice of an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a composition structure of a networkdevice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a composition structure of anelectronic device provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure will be further described in detail below inconjunction with the drawings and embodiments. It should be understoodthat the specific embodiments described here are only used to explainthe present disclosure, and are not used to limit the presentdisclosure.

The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a network connectionmethod and an electronic device. The electronic device serves as anentity implementing the network connection method, it can be implementedby using various ways in practical applications. For example, theelectronic device may be a smartphone, a tablet computer, a laptopcomputer, or a wearable device (such as a smart glasses, a smart watch,etc.). An operating system of the electronic device can be Androidoperating system, IOS operating system or any other operation system(such as a mobile version of Linux system, a BlackBerry QNX operatingsystem, etc.) that is developed by a third-party and can run on amicrocomputer structure (including at least a processor and a memory).In the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure, theelectronic device is illustrated as a smartphone, which does notconstitute a limitation on a type of the electronic device to which thetechnical solutions described in the embodiments of the presentdisclosure are applicable.

The software/hardware structure of the electronic device 10, see FIG. 1,includes a hardware layer, a driver layer, an operating system layer,and an application layer. However, those skilled in the art shouldunderstand that the electronic device 10 used for information processingmay be equipped with more components than in FIG. 1 according toimplementation requirements, or some components may be omitted accordingto implementation requirements.

The hardware layer of the electronic device 10 includes a processor 161,an input/output interface 163, a memory 164, and a network interface162. The components can be connected and communicated via a system bus.

The processor 161 may be implemented by using a central processing unit(CPU), a microprocessor (MCU), an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), or a logic programmable gate array (FPGA).

The input/output interface 163 can be implemented by using input/outputdevices such as a display screen, a touch screen, and a speaker.

The memory 164 can be implemented by using non-volatile storage mediasuch as flash memory, hard disks, and optical disks, or can beimplemented by using volatile storage media such as double data rate(DDR) dynamic caches, in which executable instructions are stored toexecute the above-mentioned network connection method.

The network interface 162 provides the processor 161 with the capabilityto access external data, such as in the memory 164 located at a remotelocation, based on a network transmission protocol such as transfercontrol protocol (TCP)/user datagram protocol (UDP).

The driver layer includes middleware 165 for the operating system 166 torecognize the hardware layer and communicate with components of thehardware layer. For example, the middleware 165 may be a collection ofdrivers for each component of the hardware layer.

The operating system 166 is used to provide a user-oriented graphicalinterface, and the operating system 166 supports the user to control apointed device via the graphical interface. The embodiment of thepresent disclosure does not limit the software environment of theabove-mentioned device, such as a type and a version of the operatingsystem, for example, which can be a Linux operating system and a UNIXoperating system, etc.

The application layer includes an application program 167 forimplementing the network connection method provided in the embodiment ofthe present disclosure. Certainly, it may also include other programs168.

The architecture of the network connection method provided by anembodiment of the present disclosure is briefly described as follows. Inthe dual-connection architecture as shown in FIG. 2. A terminal device101 can establish an air interface connection with a primary networkdevice 102 (also referred to as a primary node) to realize communicationwith the primary network device 102. The terminal device 101 can alsoestablish an air interface connection with a secondary network device103 (also referred to as a secondary node) to realize communication witha secondary network device 103. The terminal device 101 can alsosimultaneously establish air interface connections with the primarynetwork device 102 and the secondary network device 103, so as tosimultaneously realize the communication with the primary network device102 and the secondary network device 103, so as to simultaneouslyrealize communication with the primary network device 102 and thesecondary network device 103.

In the dual connection mode, the terminal device 101 simultaneouslyestablishes two connections with the primary network device 102 and thesecondary network device 103, wherein the primary network device 102 ismainly responsible for transmitting signalling, and the secondarynetwork device 103 is responsible for transmitting data. The technicalsolutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure are mainly aimedat a terminal in the dual connection mode.

The types of the primary network device 102 and the secondary networkdevice 103, shown in FIG. 2, may be the same or different. In anexample, the primary network device 102 is an LTE network device, andthe secondary network device 103 is an NR network device. In anotherexample, the primary network device 102 is an NR network device, and thesecondary network device 103 is also an NR network device. In anotherexample, the primary network device 102 is an NR network device, and thesecondary network device 103 is an LTE network device. In the embodimentof the present disclosure, the types of the primary network device 102and the secondary network device 103 do not be limited.

In an example, the dual connection mode is an EN-DC mode or a nextgeneration EN-DC (NGEN-DC) mode. In this case, the primary networkdevice is an LTE network device, and the secondary network device is anNR network device, the terminal communicates with both the LTE networkdevice and the NR network device.

In another example, the dual connection mode is an NR-evolved UMTS(NR-EUTRA, NE-DC) mode. In this case, the primary network device is anNR network device, the secondary network device is an LTE networkdevice, and the terminal communicates with both the LTE network deviceand the NR network device.

It should be noted that the dual connection mode is not limited to theaforementioned EN-DC mode and NE-DC mode, and the specific type of thedual connection mode does not be limited in the embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

In the specific implementation, the deployment method of the primarynetwork device and the secondary network device can be co-sitedeployment (e.g., the NR network device and the LTE network device canbe set on one physical device), or non-co-site deployment (e.g., the NRnetwork device and the LTE network device can be set on differentphysical devices), which is not limited to the present disclosure.Herein, the LTE network device may also be referred to as an evolvednetwork device (evolved Node B, eNB), and the NR network device may alsobe referred to as a next generation node B (gNB). It should be notedthat the relationship between coverage ranges of the primary networkdevice and the secondary network device may not be limited to thepresent disclosure. For example, the primary network device and thesecondary network device may have coverage ranges in an overlappingmanner.

The specific type of the terminal device 101 is not limited to thepresent disclosure. It can be any user device that supports theaforementioned dual connection mode, such as a smartphone, a personalcomputer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, and a portablewearable device.

Hereinafter, the technical solution of the present disclosure and howthe technical solution of the present disclosure solves theabove-mentioned technical problems will be described in detail by usingthe embodiments in conjunction with the drawings. The following specificembodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similarconcepts or processes may not be repeated in some embodiments.

Until here, the electronic device involved in the embodiment of thepresent disclosure has been described according to its functions. Basedon the software/hardware structure of the electronic device shown inFIG. 1 and the network architecture shown in FIG. 2, continue todescribe the network connection scheme provided by the embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows an optional flowchart of a network connection methodapplied to a terminal device according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, which will be described according to each step.

Step S201: sending, by the terminal device, a cell re-registrationrequest message to the network device in a case that a request forupdating a tracking area from a terminal device to a network devicefails.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal devicesupports a dual connection mode. In the dual connection mode, theterminal device communicates with both a first network device and asecond network device. In an optional embodiment, the first networkdevice is a secondary network device, and the second network device is aprimary network device. The secondary network device is responsible fortransmitting data. The primary network device is mainly responsible fortransmitting signalling. The device forms a dual-connection architecturewith the first network device and the second network device, refer toFIG. 2.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the dual connection modeis, for example, an EN-DC mode, or an NGEN-DC mode, or an NE-DC mode.Taking the EN-DC mode as an example, the second network device is an NRnetwork device (i.e. gNB), the first network device is an LTE networkdevice (i.e. eNB), and the terminal device simultaneously communicateswith both the NR network device and the LTE network device. Comparedwith the terminal device in the single connection mode that needs tocommunicate with one network device (such as an LTE network device or anNR network device), the terminal device in the dual connection modeconsumes more power. For this reason, in the embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the transmission rate of the terminal is limited to save thepower consumption of the terminal in the dual connection mode.

FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of a communication module of a terminaldevice in a dual connection mode. As shown in FIG. 4, in order for theterminal device to communicate with two network devices at the sametime, the terminal device needs to have two sets of communicationmodules, which correspond to two network devices, respectively. A firstmodem module and a first radio frequency path (including a first radiofrequency circuit and a first radio frequency antenna) form a first setof communication modules, and the first set of communication modulescorresponds to the first network device. A second modem module and asecond radio frequency path (including a second radio frequency circuitand a second radio frequency antenna) form a second set of communicationmodules, and the second set of communication modules corresponds to thesecond network device. In an example, the second modem is a 5G modem,the first modem is a 4G modem, the second radio frequency circuit isrelated to 5G RF, and the first radio frequency circuit is related to 4GRF. In the dual connection mode, the first communication module and thesecond communication module work at the same time.

In an example, the terminal device first establishes a connection withthe first network device and then establishes a connection with thesecond network device. For example, in a case that a terminal device isconnected to a first network device, a control instruction sent by asecond network device is received, and the control instruction is usedto trigger the activation of the communication function corresponding tothe second network device; the terminal device establishes a connectionwith the second network device in response to the control instruction.

Before performing step S201, if the terminal device in the dualconnection mode determines to disable the dual connection mode andadopts a single connection mode, the terminal device returns to an idlestate and initiates a tracking area update (TAU) process. Optionally,the terminal device may also release radio resource control (RRC) byitself in a specific scenario and fall back to the idle state. Duringthe tracking area update process that is initiated by the terminaldevice, the terminal device sends a TAU request message to the networkdevice. In the TAU request message, a value of UE radio capabilityinformation update needed is set to 1, and a value of an active flag in“EPS update type” is set to 0. In this way, the network device canconfigure the terminal device to the idle state after the TAU processends.

In some embodiments, in a schematic diagram of the tracking area updateprocess, as shown in FIG. 5, the terminal device in EN-DC modedetermines to disable the EN-DC mode and adopts the single connectionmode, then the terminal device returns to the idle state and initiatesthe TAU process to the network device. After the TAU request message isreceived by the network device, the network device knows that theterminal device needs to update a capability of the terminal device, andthen initiates a UE capability enquiry process to the terminal device.Then, the terminal device reports a UE capability report to the networkdevice and indicates whether the terminal device has the capability toconnect to the second network. When the terminal device does not havethe capability to connect to the second network is instructed, thenetwork device does not configure the dual connection mode to theterminal device.

In other embodiments, after the network device receives the TAU requestmessage, the network device ignores the TAU request message, that is,the network device does not initiate the UE capability enquiry processto the terminal device; if the terminal device does not receive aterminal device capability enquiry request message sent by the networkdevice within a predetermined duration, it is considered that the TAUhas failed. At this time, the terminal device sends a re-registrationprocess to the network device. The terminal device provides there-registration request message including that: the terminal devicesupports connecting to the second network, or the terminal device doesnot support connecting to the second network.

Step S202: receiving, by the terminal device, a network connection modeconfigured by the network device.

In some embodiments, in a case that the cell re-registration requestmessage includes that the terminal device does not support connecting tothe second network, the terminal device receives the single connectionmode configured by the network device; in the single connection mode,the terminal device can only access the first network. In a scenariowherein a terminal device is switched from a dual connection mode to asingle connection mode, the network device is the primary networkdevice. The primary network device sends a message to the secondarynetwork device in the dual connection mode to instruct the secondarynetwork device to disconnect from the terminal device. Namely, it isinstructed that data transmission is no longer performed between thesecondary network device and the terminal device. In a scenario whereina terminal device is switched from a dual connection mode to a singleconnection mode, the network device is the primary network device,before the terminal device receives the single connection configurationsent by the network device, the terminal device disconnects the terminaldevice from the secondary network device, the secondary network devicesends a message to the primary network device, and the message is usedto notify the primary network device and the terminal device to performdata transmission and signalling transmission. In this scenario, theterminal device may also continue to send first information to thenetwork device, wherein the first information is used to indicate thatthe terminal device supports connecting to the second network. After thenetwork device receives the first information sent by the terminaldevice, the network device configures the dual connection mode for theterminal device. In a case that a network device is configured with adual connection mode for a terminal device, the network device can beconsidered as the primary network device; the primary network devicealso needs to send a message to the secondary network device to instructthe secondary network device to establish a connection with the terminaldevice and indicate to perform data transmission between the secondarynetwork device and the terminal device. In this scenario, the primarynetwork device and the terminal device perform signalling transmission.

In the specific implementation, the terminal device can restart toperform a measurement report for the second network, and the measurementreport for the second network is reported to the network device by theterminal device, so that the network device knows that the terminaldevice has the capability to support the second network; then thenetwork device configures the dual connection mode for the terminaldevice. In the dual connection mode, the terminal device cansimultaneously access the first network and the second network.

In other embodiments, when the cell re-registration request messageincludes that the terminal device supports connecting to the secondnetwork, the terminal device receives the dual connection modeconfigured by the network device.

It should be noted that, in an optional embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the first network is an LTE network, and the second networkis an NR network. A connection established between the terminal deviceand the network device through the first network refers to that theterminal device and the network device communicate within the firstnetwork. The dual connection mode can be an EN-DC mode.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, after a connection isestablished between the terminal device and the second network devicecorresponding to the second network, the terminal device can communicatewith the second network device. It should be noted that the connectiondescribed in the embodiments of the present disclosure refers to access.After the terminal device enables a communication function of the secondnetwork device, it needs to adjust various parameters of the terminaldevice according to the actual situation, so as to achieve the bestcompromise between performance and power consumption, so that the usercan obtain a better experience. Taking the communication functioncorresponding to the second network device as a 5G function as anexample, refer to FIG. 6, which is a schematic diagram of a terminaldevice enabling an intelligent 5G. Herein, enabling the intelligent 5Gmeans optimizing the 5G function. Specifically, when the 5G function isused by the terminal device, which can adjust various parameters (suchas the transmission rate) of the terminal device according to the actualsituation. As shown in FIG. 6, enabling the intelligent 5G by a terminaldevice includes the following processes:

1. The terminal device determines whether an operation to enable theintelligent 5G has been received.

Herein, a terminal displays a user interface. The user interfaceincludes an option to enable the intelligent 5G, and the user cantrigger an operation to select options corresponding to the intelligent5G, thereby enabling the intelligent 5G. Herein, the user's operationmay be a touch operation, a keying operation, a voice operation, agesture operation, or the like.

2. If the operation to enable the intelligent 5G is received, the 5Gfunction is optimized.

Herein, the optimization of the 5G function includes at least: informingthe network device through the re-registration message that the terminaldevice does not have the capability to support 5G, thereby avoiding thenetwork device from configuring the terminal device with the dualconnection mode, so as to save the power consumption of the terminaldevice.

3. If the control instruction to enable the 5G function is not received,the 5G function will not be optimized.

An application scenario of the network connection method provided by anembodiment of the present disclosure is that: the terminal devicedetects its own remaining power, and when the remaining power is lowerthan a predetermined threshold, the terminal device enables to restrictthe communication function corresponding to the second network device.In a case that the communication function corresponding to the secondnetwork device starts to be restricted, the terminal device reports tothe network device that the terminal device does not have the capabilityto support the second network (5G network) through a re-registrationrequest message, thereby avoiding the network device from configuringthe dual connection mode for the terminal device to save the powerconsumption of the terminal device. In the specific implementation, thethreshold, such as 20%, can be flexibly set according to the needs ofthe user.

Another application scenario of the network connection method providedby an embodiment of the present disclosure is that: in a case that thesecond network is abnormally established or disconnected frequently, theterminal device enables to restrict the communication functioncorresponding to the second network device. In a case that thecommunication function corresponding to the second network device startsto be restricted, the terminal device reports to the network device thatthe terminal device does not have the capability to support the secondnetwork (5G network) through a re-registration request message, therebyavoiding the network device from configuring the dual connection modefor the terminal device to save the power consumption of the terminaldevice. In the specific implementation, the second network establishedor disconnected abnormally frequently may be three times of establishingor disconnecting the second network within 1 minute.

Another application scenario of the network connection method providedin an embodiment of the present disclosure is that: in a case that theterminal device is in deep sleep, the terminal device enables torestrict the communication function corresponding to the second networkdevice. In a case that the communication function corresponding to thesecond network device starts to be restricted, the terminal devicereports to the network device that the terminal device does not have thecapability to support the second network (5G network) through are-registration request message, thereby avoiding the network devicefrom configuring the dual connection mode for the terminal device tosave the power consumption of the terminal device. In the specificimplementation, the terminal device in deep sleep can be that: a powerconsumption optimization software module inside the terminal devicesends a deep sleep state event registration request message to anapplication layer power management system inside the terminal device,and the application layer power management system sends a deep sleepevent occurrence indication based on the deep sleep state eventregistration request message to the power consumption optimizationsoftware module, wherein the deep sleep event occurrence indication isused to instruct the terminal device to enter a deep sleep state.

In the above technical solution of the embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the terminal device reports to the network device that theterminal device does not have the capability to support the secondnetwork (5G network) through the re-registration request message,thereby avoiding the network device from configuring the dual connectionmode for the terminal device to save the power consumption of theterminal device and increase the service life of the terminal device.

Based on the network connection method provided in the foregoingembodiment, an embodiment of the present disclosure also provides aterminal device. The terminal device 300, as shown in a schematicdiagram of a composition structure in FIG. 7, includes:

A first sending unit 301 that is configured to send a cellre-registration request message to a network device in a case that arequest for updating a tracking area from a terminal device to a networkdevice fails; the terminal device supports a dual connection mode andestablishes a connection with the network device through a firstnetwork, and the cell re-registration request message is used to causethe network device to know the capability of the terminal device toconnect to the second network;

A first receiving unit 302 that is configured to receive a networkconnection mode configured by the network device.

In an embodiment, the first sending unit 301 is configured to send atracking area update request message to the network device in a casethat the terminal device is in an idle state;

The first receiving unit 302 has not received a terminal devicecapability enquiry request message sent by the network device within apredetermined duration.

In an embodiment, the cell re-registration request message includesthat: the terminal device supports connecting to the second network, orthe terminal device does not support connecting to the second network.

In an embodiment, the first receiving unit 302 is configured to receivea single connection mode configured by the network device in a case thatthe cell re-registration request message includes that the terminaldevice does not support connecting to the second network; in the singleconnection mode, the terminal device can only access the first network.

In an embodiment, the first receiving unit 302 is configured to receivea dual connection mode configured by the network device in a case thatthe cell re-registration request message includes that the terminaldevice supports connecting to the second network; in the dual connectionmode, the terminal device can simultaneously access the first networkand the second network.

In an embodiment, the first sending unit 301 is further configured tosend first information to the network device, wherein the firstinformation is used to indicate that the terminal device supportsconnecting to the second network.

In an embodiment, the first network is an LTE network, and the secondnetwork is an NR network.

Based on the network connection method provided in the aboveembodiments, an embodiment of the present disclosure also provides aterminal device. The network device 400, as shown in a schematic diagramof a composition structure in FIG. 8, includes:

A second receiving unit 401 that is configured to receive a trackingarea update request message sent by a terminal device, wherein thenetwork device establishes a connection with the terminal device througha first network;

A processing unit 402 that is configured to ignore the tracking areaupdate request message.

In an embodiment, the processing unit 402 is configured to not send aterminal device capability enquiry request message to the terminaldevice within a predetermined duration after the tracking area updaterequest message is received by the second receiving unit.

In an embodiment, the second receiving unit 401 is further configured toreceive a cell re-registration request message sent by the terminaldevice, wherein the cell re-registration request message is used tocause the network device to know the capability of the terminal deviceto connect to the second network.

In an embodiment, the processing unit 402 is further configured toconfigure a network connection mode for the terminal device based on thecell re-registration request message.

In an embodiment, the processing unit 402 is configured to configure asingle connection mode for the terminal device in a case that the cellre-registration request message includes that the terminal device doesnot support connecting to the second network; in the single connectionmode, the terminal device can only access the first network.

In an embodiment, the processing unit 402 is configured to configure adual connection mode for the terminal device in a case that the cellre-registration request message includes that the terminal devicesupports connecting to the second network; in the dual connection mode,the terminal device can simultaneously access the first network and thesecond network.

In an embodiment, the second receiving unit 401 is further configured toreceive first information sent by the terminal device, wherein the firstinformation is used to indicate that the terminal device supportsconnecting to the second network.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first network is an LTEnetwork, and the second network is an NR network.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a hardware composition structure of anelectronic device (such as a terminal device and a network device)according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The electronicdevice 700 includes at least one processor 701, a memory 702, and atleast one network interface 704. The various components in theelectronic device 700 are coupled together through a bus system 705. Itcan be understood that the bus system 705 is used to implementconnection and communication between these components. In addition to adata bus, the bus system 705 also includes a power bus, a control bus,and a status signal bus. However, for the sake of clear description,various buses are marked as the bus system 705 in FIG. 9.

It can be understood that the memory 702 may be a volatile memory or anon-volatile memory, and may also include both volatile and non-volatilememory. The non-volatile memory can be a ROM, a programmable read-onlymemory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), anelectrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), aferromagnetic random access memory (FRAM), a flash memory, a magneticsurface memory, an optical disk, or a compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM); wherein the magnetic surface memory can be disk storage ortape storage. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM),which is used as an external cache. By way of exemplary but notrestrictive description, many forms of RAM are available, such as astatic random access memory (SRAM), a synchronous static random accessmemory (SSRAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a synchronousdynamic random access memory (SDRAM), a double data rate synchronousdynamic random access memory (DDRSDRAM), an enhanced synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (ESDRAM), a SyncLink dynamic random access memory(SLDRAM), and a direct Rambus random access memory (DRRAM). The memory702 described in the embodiment of the present disclosure is intended toinclude, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types ofmemory.

The memory 702 in the embodiment of the present disclosure is used tostore various types of data to support the operation of the electronicdevice 700. Examples of such data include any computer program used tooperate on the electronic device 700, such as an application program7022. The program for implementing the method of the embodiment of thepresent disclosure may be included in the application program 7022.

The method disclosed in the above embodiment of the present disclosuremay be applied to the processor 701 or implemented by the processor 701.The processor 701 may be an integrated circuit chip with signalprocessing capabilities. In the implementation process, the steps of theabove method can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardwarein the processor 701 or instructions in the form of software. Theaforementioned processor 701 may be a general-purpose processor, adigital signal processor (DSP), or other programmable logic devices,discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components,and the like. The processor 701 may implement or execute the methods,steps, and logical block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The general-purpose processor may be amicroprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. Combining thesteps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the presentdisclosure, it may be directly embodied as being executed and completedby a hardware decoding processor, or executed and completed by acombination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor.The software module may be located in a storage medium, and the storagemedium is located in the memory 702. The processor 701 reads theinformation in the memory 702 and completes the steps of the foregoingmethod in combination with its hardware.

In an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device 700 may be implementedby one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), DSP,programmable logic devices (PLD), complex programmable logic devices(CPLD), FPGA, general-purpose processors, controller, MCU, MPU, or otherelectronic components to execute the aforementioned method.

The embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a storage mediumfor storing computer programs.

Optionally, the storage medium may be applied to the terminal device inthe embodiment of the present disclosure, and the computer programcauses a computer to execute a corresponding process in each methodexecuted by the terminal device in the embodiment of the presentdisclosure. For brevity, details are not described herein again.

Optionally, the storage medium can be applied to the network device inthe embodiment of the present disclosure, and the computer programcauses the computer to execute the corresponding process in each methodexecuted by the network device in the embodiment of the presentdisclosure. For the sake of brevity, details are not described hereinagain.

The present disclosure is described with reference to flowcharts and/orblock diagrams of methods, devices (systems), and computer programproducts according to embodiments of the present disclosure. It shouldbe understood that each process and/or block in the flowchart and/orblock diagram, and the combination of processes and/or blocks in theflowchart and/or block diagram can be implemented by computer programinstructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to aprocessor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, anembedded processor, or other programmable data processing equipment toproduce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor ofthe computer or other programmable data processing equipment can be usedto generate a device that implements the functions specified in oneprocess or multiple processes in the flowchart and/or one block ormultiple blocks in a block diagram.

These computer program instructions can also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing equipment to work in a specific manner, sothat the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce anarticle of manufacture including the instruction device. The deviceimplements the functions specified in one process or multiple processesin the flowchart and/or one block or multiple blocks in a block diagram.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded on a computer orother programmable data processing equipment, so that a series ofoperation steps are executed on the computer or other programmableequipment to produce computer-implemented processing, so as to executeon the computer or other programmable equipment. The instructionsprovide steps for implementing functions specified in a flow or multipleflows in the flowchart and/or a block or multiple blocks in a blockdiagram.

The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present disclosureand are not used to limit the scope of protection of the presentdisclosure. Any modification, equivalent replacement, and improvementmade within the spirit and principle of the present disclosure shall beincluded within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A network connection method, comprising: sending,by the terminal device, a cell re-registration request message to thenetwork device in a case that a request for updating a tracking areafrom a terminal device to a network device fails; wherein the terminaldevice supports a dual connection mode and establishes a connection withthe network device through a first network, and the cell re-registrationrequest message is configured to cause the network device to know acapability of the terminal device to connect to a second network; andreceiving, by the terminal device, a network connection mode configuredby the network device.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein thecase that the request for updating the tracking area from the terminaldevice to the network device fails, comprises: sending, by the terminaldevice, a tracking area update request message to the network device, inan idle state; wherein the terminal device does not receive a terminaldevice capability enquiry request message sent by the network device,within a predetermined duration.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 1,wherein the cell re-registration request message comprises: the terminaldevice supporting connecting to the second network, or the terminaldevice not supporting connecting to the second network.
 4. The method asclaimed in claim 3, wherein, in a case that the cell re-registrationrequest message comprises the terminal device not supporting connectingto the second network, the receiving, by the terminal device, thenetwork connection mode configured by the network device, comprising:receiving, by the terminal device, a single connection mode configuredby the network device; wherein the terminal device is only capable ofaccessing the first network, in the single connection mode.
 5. Themethod as claimed in claim 3, wherein, in a case that the cellre-registration request message comprises the terminal device supportingconnecting to the second network, the receiving, by the terminal device,the network connection mode configured by the network device,comprising: receiving, by the terminal device, the dual connection modeconfigured by the network device; wherein the terminal device is capableof accessing the first network and the second network simultaneously, inthe dual connection mode.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 4, furthercomprising: sending, by the terminal device, first information to thenetwork device, wherein the first information is configured to indicatethat the terminal device supports connecting to the second network. 7.The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the first network is along-term evolution (LTE) network, and the second network is a new radio(NR) network.
 8. A network connection method, comprising: receiving, bya network device, a tracking area update request message sent by aterminal device, wherein the network device establishes a connectionwith the terminal device through a first network; and ignoring, by thenetwork device, the tracking area update request message; wherein theterminal device supports a dual connection mode.
 9. The method asclaimed in claim 8, wherein the ignoring, by the network device, thetracking area update request, comprises: not sending, by the networkdevice, a terminal device capability enquiry request message to theterminal device, within a predetermined duration after the tracking areaupdate request message is received by the network device.
 10. The methodas claimed in claim 8, further comprising: receiving, by the networkdevice, a cell re-registration request message sent by the terminaldevice, wherein the cell re-registration request message is configuredto cause the network device to know a capability of the terminal deviceto connect to a second network.
 11. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising: configuring a network connection mode for the terminaldevice based on the cell re-registration request message by the networkdevice.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the configuringthe network connection mode for the terminal device based on the cellre-registration request message by the network device comprises:configuring a single connection mode for the terminal device by thenetwork device in a case that the cell re-registration request messagecomprises the terminal device not supporting connecting to the secondnetwork; wherein the terminal device is only capable of accessing thefirst network, in the single connection mode.
 13. The method as claimedin claim 11, wherein the configuring the network connection mode for theterminal device based on the cell re-registration request message by thenetwork device comprises: configuring the dual connection mode for theterminal device by the network device in a case that the cellre-registration request message comprises the terminal device supportingconnecting to the second network; wherein the terminal device is capableof accessing the first network and the second network simultaneously, inthe dual connection mode.
 14. The method as claimed in claim 12, furthercomprising: receiving, by the network device, first information sent bythe terminal device, wherein the first information is configured toindicate that the terminal device supports connecting to the secondnetwork.
 15. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first networkis a long term evolution (LTE) network, and the second network is a newradio (NR) network.
 16. A terminal device, comprising a processor and amemory for storing a computer program that is capable of running on theprocessor, wherein in response to the processor being configured to runthe computer program, the processor executes steps of the networkconnection method as claimed in claim
 1. 17. A network device comprisinga processor and a memory for storing a computer program that is capableof running on the processor, wherein in response to the processor beingconfigured to run the computer program, the processor executes steps ofthe network connection method as claimed in claim 8.